Click here to listen to The Minimal Pair: Episode 011 Show Notes: The Minimal Pair Title: A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words! Episode no: 011 Date: Recorded on 5/29/14 Topics in Language Learning Classroom Management Source: The English Skills Learning Center blog: “Tips on Classroom Management for Adult ELL classes” http://www.eslcenter.org/about-us/blog/103-tips-on-classroom-management-for-adult-ell-classes Classroom management—what and why? Challenges of teaching different age groups and cultural backgrounds in the same classroom Challenges of “mixed classrooms”—English and ESL Different college settings (Community college, 4 year college, grad school) The 7 tips the English Skills Center blog shares in their article, and how we implement them in the classroom: Make class expectations clear and realistic and stick to them Be consistent: set class routines that students can become familiar with Find a balance between being your students’ teacher and being their friend (respected vs. approachable) Work to engage all the students while teaching. Don’t base the pace of an entire class on one or two students Use interactive activities and open-ended questions as a chance to check student comprehension Ask for student feedback and incorporate it as appropriate for everyone Recognize that some discipline concerns need to be addressed immediately, while others are better done individually after class Plus, 3 more tips (from us) for an even 10! Follow the “golden rule”—treat students with the same respect you expect from them Don’t shame students into submission, participation, etc. (Brene Brown) Address different learning styles (in addition to pace) in order to reach everyone [18:04] Methodology Visual learners FYI: listen to future episodes for similar segments about audio learners and kinesthetic learners! Source: Adam Simpson’s blog, “Teach them English,” http://www.teachthemenglish.com/2014/05/using-infographics-to-teach-language-the-why-how-and-where/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter Beginning English Picto-wikis Infographic Timeline of events in a story Illustrating student work Diagrams: Venn diagrams, columns, thought-webs Building blocks of English writing (bottom of pyramid) Intermediate English Building blocks of English writing (top of pyramid) Outlining essays (outline as a “blueprint”) Videos (i.e. “School House Rock” for Grammar) Powerpoints (a picture is worth a thousand words—being succinct; animations—giving students a chance to answer first) Presentations (posters, Powerpoints, passed objects, etc.) Graffiti Advanced English Research presentations (Powerpoint and beyond) Videos (for the student and by the student) Including pictures in wikis (literal and abstract) Picture outline (a picture for each point) [32:40] Culturally speaking… English-only debate Immigration issue Preserving L1/living in predominantly L1 communities Learning the spoken language of new country and letting go of L1 Actively integrating both in daily life Language and identity First-generation Americans Kids caught between cultures 3rd culture kids Role reversal in immigrant families Multilingual countries The linguistic divide can cause political/cultural tension (i.e. Quebec) Language status (English vs. anything in the U.S.) Countries that were formally colonized and the linguistic implication English as the official language of the U.S. The U.S. does not have an official language English’s status in the U.S. as the “unofficial official language” Should the U.S. have an official language? What should it be? Should/could there be more than one? Is this an issue to be decided at a state or federal level? Check us out on twitter, FB, gmail Keep it minimal!